For Her Benefit
by CrispyBaconbits
Summary: Jeff starts dating a girl who seems like everything he needs to be a better person. But this doesn't go over well with his cardigan wearing best friend. Eventual JxA! Read and Review!
1. Chapter 1

**A/N:** Came up with this one randomly! Definitely not dark like my last fic, but still has some angst! Enjoy and Review!

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><p>Jeff pulled up to Shirley and Andre's driveway. It had been a week since the couple had gotten remarried, and they had decided to celebrate by inviting the group to their home for a nice dinner party. Troy and Abed were more than excited, as they were ready to prove to Elijah and Jordan that they weren't acting like grown-ups anymore due to their unpleasant and <em>normal<em> encounter with the boys a week earlier. The rest of the group was also looking forward to the two of them shutting up about wanting to act like pirates.

When he rang the doorbell, Andre opened it and greeted Jeff, who was soon enveloped in a tight hug from Shirley. After hanging up his coat and taking a couple seconds to touch up his hair subconsciously, Jeff entered the living room. Sure enough, Troy and Abed had wasted no time in jumping into their revised roles of "Admiral Spacetime and Captain Reggie", which the boys had accepted wholeheartedly. Jeff smirked to himself; he had to admit that he still thought space pirates sounded kickass.

His eyes then drifted to Pierce, who was pretending to peruse the Bennett's home with great interest with a glass of wine in his hand. Being accustomed to that way of living Jeff of course knew what he was really doing, which was pretending to be interested in their home so as to appear classier. He made a mental note to talk with Pierce later about where he stood with this home, as he knew it would no doubt lead to an interesting, but completely inappropriate and ridiculous critique of the house.

Britta and Annie were in the kitchen, and Britta looked as if she would rather be anywhere but in that specific room. Jeff knew she was good at cooking because she actually made him dinner once after she had tricked him into babysitting her cats. The reason she was annoyed though, was because she was a woman who was willingly helping to cook dinner. Jeff knew Britta probably hated herself for falling into one of those 'predetermined gender roles' that she despises with so much passion. He would rub that in her face later.

And finally there was Annie. Jeff noticed that she was not at all sulking like Britta, and was thoroughly enjoying helping Shirley (who had now returned to the kitchen) by making garlic bread to go with her lasagna. Jeff noticed how happy she looked; she seemed so content here and relatively stress free, especially considering that the new semester just started. He decided that today he wouldn't ruin that. Of course, that didn't mean that he wasn't going to talk to her, but Jeff resolved to not bring up recent _developments _in his love life, for Annie's benefit. The rest of the group hadn't found out yet anyway, and he would introduce them all when he felt the time was right. He thought he was doing a pretty good job at keeping the 'subconscious smiling without reason' to himself in the solitude of his own home until then.

The woman's name was Natalie, and Jeff had met her one night at (surprise surprise) a bar. But she was different; she wasn't a bimbo, she was surprisingly down to earth and Jeff felt good being able to have an actual conversation with her. She was also compassionate, which was a trait that Jeff had learned to admire through...other people he knew. He assumed that Natalie had learned this trait through her job, as she worked in a children's daycare. Over the Christmas break she had taken him there once, which he actually enjoyed. He admired how she was able to deal with kids so well. _God...I'm becoming such a sap. _

The most important quality that his new girlfriend possessed however is that she made Jeff feel like a better person. He had finally met someone who made him feel good about acting like a good person without the burden of being in his group of lovable misfits. He found that since he often had to watch over the study group, they didn't really do much to change how he acted outside of school, no matter how much he wanted to do just that. That's not to say he never loved the group of course, but he just wasn't influenced strongly enough by them. But Natalie was different; she was independent. Jeff knew she liked him, but he also knew that he wouldn't have to hold her hand when she made a mistake. It was liberating knowing that she had a life of her own to lead. She was happy to have a boyfriend, but wasn't clingy or needy. Not to mention she was around her late twenties, as opposed to the hot, but still naive young girl he used to have feelings for. In a way, Natalie reminded Jeff of Slater, except she wouldn't care enough to try and compete for his affections. Jeff loved that about her; it was so nice to know he didn't have to always be afraid of making Natalie jealous by being himself around women. She understood how he had a natural charm; after all, he got her.

"Look out!"

Jeff was suddenly jolted from his thoughts by a plastic sword hitting him right square in the jaw. He groaned, and Troy looked at him with a wide grin on his face, obviously trying to hide his laughter while the boys rolled around on the floor laughing manically. "Sorry, dude", he said as he picked up the sword. "I was trying to prove to Abed that swords were just like big throwing knives." Jeff just walked away from him towards the kitchen, subconsciously rubbing his chin more out of worry for how he looked than actual pain. He heard Troy and boys laugh again as he walked over to the girls.

"Miladies", said Jeff as he walked towards the stove. He noticed Annie frown for a fraction of a second before turning to him, beaming. He assumed this was because he had used his special nickname for her in the plural. He silently cursed himself for being so dumb. _Great start, Winger._ He was eager to lighten the mood, so he took a moment to make fun of his blonde friend, who still looked utterly peeved to be there. He smirked at her. "I never expected to see the queen of women's rights standing in such a clichéd, but compromising position. Honestly Britta, if you're going to be a hypocrite like usual at least be more creative." She didn't even bother responding to him, but instead grunted loudly and walked out of the kitchen to join Troy, Abed and the boys. Shirley and Annie just laughed, and Jeff felt proud to have successfully cleared the air of any awkwardness.

"Jeffery, I need to go and speak with Andre for a moment so would you please make sure to take my lasagna back out of the oven in 5 minutes?" Jeff nodded, and Shirley left abruptly to go rescue her husband from Pierce, who was no doubt finding some way to insult his modest home. Annie took out her garlic bread, pleased with how it had turned out and placed it on top of the stove. She then removed her apron and turned to Jeff, smiling brightly. "I gotta say, I'm a little surprised you showed up, Jeff. A dinner party with a remarried couple and two kids pretending to be pirates doesn't seem like your scene." Jeff grinned at her before glancing into the living room to see Troy, who was currently tied up with Jordan back to back and being held captive by Abed and Elijah. "Well in my defense, I tend to hang out with those two kids pretty regularly anyway," said Jeff. Annie giggled before turning back to cut the 2 long loafs of garlic bread. "You know they're usually not too bad, Jeff. Especially when you live with them. I found that you get used to their antics even quicker due to being forced to be in a confined space with them." Jeff bent down to open the oven and grab Shirley's lasagna. "Well I'm still glad I don't sleep 2 meters away from them. A guy's gotta have his own solitude sometimes y'know?" Jeff left out the fact that Natalie had spent the last 3 nights with him in his own bed.

Shirley had called everyone to come eat soon, and after a slightly awkward moment where the Bennett's said grace, everyone had begun eating and engaging in casual conversation. Jeff had to admit, Shirley had outdone herself with the lasagna, and Annie's garlic bread was equally delicious. The salad that Britta made was decent too, but Jeff figured he wouldn't thank all the ladies for the food at once at the table, as Britta would probably not accept it anyway due to her stupid views. "So," said Andre catching the attention of the group, "how was everyone's Christmas break? I don't go to school with you guys and Shirley's told me bits and pieces, but I'd love to hear it in more detail from you guys." Pierce perked up at the question, finding this as the perfect opportunity to gloat about something that probably wasn't true. "Well Andre, I spent most of my break tasting wine and going to fancy parties that only former business owners would know anything about. Oh, to be reacquainted with the joys of upper-class living. Sorry for rubbing it in, Jeffery." Jeff simply shook his head, content with leaving the comment alone and letting Pierce delude himself further before Annie jumped in to defend him. "Pierce! Jeff doesn't need a life like that anymore, he has us! I'm sure now he at least cares a little more about people than being materialistic." Britta laughed at this, causing Jeff to glare at her slightly for a second or two. "Don't go praising him just yet, Annie. Jeff still has a ways to go, or have you forgotten that he's currently going to a shrink?" Jeff just scoffed at her. "Keep it up, and I'll tell you that you have a talent for making salad, Britta." At this, the blonde looked back down to her plate and focused on her food, and Jeff revelled in the small victory.

"Annie's right though; Jeff's character dynamic has definitely changed a lot in 3 years," said Abed, who had chosen this moment to give his 2 cents on the apparent character analysis that everyone was doing on Jeff. "Now, he's more open to sharing his feelings and feels that he can confide in people. I think it's good for him, as this behavior could potentially be the start of a new relationship with a lucky lady." This caused everyone at the table to simultaneously let out an "Oooooh", which caused Jeff to bury his face in his hands. Of course, Abed would be the one to know exactly what was going on in Jeff's life at the moment. Strangely though, he noticed that Abed's comment had caused Annie to look down as a blush reached her cheeks, and suddenly felt the overwhelming need to change the subject.

"Look, guys," said a frustrated Jeff. "Can we just move on from this subject? I already have a therapist _and _Abed, so I don't need any more people delving into my life." Britta cocked her eyebrow at Jeff. "Sounds like someone's getting defensive. Are you sure there isn't someone out there you're hiding from us, Winger?" Troy also looked up from where he and Elijah were throwing carrots at each other. "Yeah! I bet Jeff has a new lady-friend that's got him acting all soft!" said Troy enthusiastically. Everyone except Annie was looking at Jeff now, and he noticed she was somewhat uncomfortable. Somehow though, this went unnoticed by the rest of the table, which was making him annoyed. He had full intentions of not bringing this up today, and yet here was his study group, somehow knowing the combination to the safe where he kept his secrets, as usual.

"There aren't any lady-friends, Troy." said Jeff exasperated. "Maybe I'm just naturally becoming a better person, is that so hard to believe?" At this, the rest of the group fell silent, and he was relieved to finally be rid of that awkward topic of conversation. He noticed though, that everyone still looked doubtful, especially Britta. But Jeff knew that if anyone could figure this out, it would be Abed. He seriously considered pulling him aside later to tell him about Natalie and just get it out of the way. _He might be a robot, but he can still keep a secret, _thought Jeff. He looked over at Annie again, whose happy demeanor had returned somewhat along with the casual conversation.

_That was a close call. _


	2. Chapter 2

The rest of the night played out rather boring for Jeff. Abed, Troy and the boys had grown very tired from constantly playing pirates before dinner, and so they opted instead to just watch movies. Britta joined them and sat pretty close to Troy on the couch, which caught Jeff's eye. _Perfect, _he thought. Now, all he needed was a little more proof that something was up between them and she wouldn't be able to call him out on his new girlfriend. Pierce meanwhile was currently being driven home by Annie after once again insulting the Bennett's home unknowingly and also for being a little too intoxicated. He imagined she wasn't having a very fun ride. This was ideal however, for Jeff to get Abed alone so that Annie wouldn't be able to notice. He would still have to be on the lookout for Britta and Shirley, but with Britta preoccupied with Troy on the couch and Shirley preoccupied with Andre cleaning the dishes, it was the perfect moment to get Abed alone. So Jeff sat on the recliner and pretended to look at his phone, waiting for Abed to get up and go to the washroom. He was also secretly watching Britta and Troy, and smirked to himself when he noticed Britta put her head on his shoulder.

Finally, Abed excused himself to head to the bathroom, and Jeff waited a moment before nonchalantly following behind from a safe distance. He looked back and sure enough, no one had noticed him leave. While he leaned on the wall next to the closed door, he heard the sink running and knew Abed was done. When Abed opened the door, he was startled slightly but didn't say anything. "Bathroom's free, Jeff." Jeff however, grabbed his arm lightly and led him into the closest room he could find to the bathroom, which happened to be Shirley and Andre's bedroom. After closing the door, Abed quirked an eyebrow at him. "Jeff, I don't know what this is about but in most movies that feature dinner parties at someone else's home, being led into the host's bedroom never really leads to anything good. Also, the two people are almost always caught by the host in a matter of minutes." Jeff sighed, but continued hastily as he hoped to get this over with as soon as possible. "Abed listen, I have to tell you something important. But it's a secret, alright? Heavy lid, just like what we talked about at your birthday last year." Abed cocked his head slightly, but didn't say anything. Jeff continued, "Look, remember what we talked about at dinner? Well it turns out I do have a girlfriend. Her name is Natalie and she's great. You know how everyone is though, and I can't have them finding out. So this is just between us alright, Abed?" Abed seemed to contemplate this information for a moment, before nodding his head. However, just as Jeff was about to leave, he suddenly spoke up.

"This is about Annie, isn't it Jeff?"

_Damn. _Abed was always one step ahead of Jeff and knew exactly what he was thinking at all times. It was remarkable, but also unbelievably annoying. Although he assumed Abed knew about his fragile relationship with Annie, he was hoping to avoid talking about this. He was also getting increasingly uncomfortable in Shirley and Andre's bedroom. Abed seemed to recognize this and gave Jeff a knowing look before heading towards the door. Before he left though, he turned back to him one last time. "Jeff," he said. "I'm not going to make a television reference here, but you know Annie fits the know-it-all but still naive to the real world girl archetype. If she were to find out about this, naturally she'd be extremely upset. I know I'm usually an observer, but I'd be willing to try and comfort her as best I can at home for you. But I can only do so much." Jeff understood what Abed was saying and nodded in agreement. "Thanks, Abed. I'd appreciate that. And I feel like they will get along somewhat after the first initial awkwardness and then we should be all good again, right?" At this, Abed's expression didn't change in the slightest and he simply said, "We'll see" before turning the knob to leave the room.

Of course, Jeff's luck being what is was and Abed's predictions being what they were, the two of them walked straight into Shirley who was blocking their path with a stern look on her face. "Hello boys," she said in her not-so-innocent miss piggy voice. "Care to explain why you were in my bedroom?"

Jeff and Abed had no choice. They had to tell the world's worst gossiper about Jeff's new girlfriend. Although Shirley was initially very excited for Jeff, he reminded her what the news would do to the rest of the group, particularly Annie. Shirley may have been bad at keeping secrets, but her sympathy overpowered even her desire to gossip. So, after explaining the situation to her and why it would upset Annie with her and Jeff's past history, a slightly peeved Shirley reluctantly agreed to keep it secret. Jeff however, knew that this wouldn't hold for long. He would need to introduce Natalie to the rest of the group quicker than he thought. As he uneasily went back to his recliner, he silently cursed himself for showing up to this dinner party in the first place. Annie was right, it totally wasn't his scene.

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><p>On Monday, Jeff sat in his chair at the study table looking preoccupied in his thoughts. Annie snapped her fingers in his face and brought him back to reality. "Jeff! I'm trying to give you your notes for biology!" Jeff shook his head slightly to get the nerves away from his system, and thanked her before shoving the biology notes in his binder. When everyone was getting ready to leave, he stood up from the table. "Everyone, wait. I have something to tell you guys." Jeff glanced over at Shirley, who looked concerned but didn't say anything. Abed simply stared at him with the rest of the group.<p>

Making sure to avoid Annie and Britta's gaze, Jeff awkwardly stared at Troy, who shifted uncomfortably in his seat. "So," Jeff started, "remember when you guys thought I had a girlfriend? Well, you were right." He was expecting some sort of reaction from the group, but they were surprising silent. Although, Jeff noticed Britta grinning slightly. He still wasn't looking at Annie. "So yeah," he continued, "her name is Natalie and she's actually really sweet and I thought I'd just get this all out of the way now so that you aren't surprised when you finally meet her. I also don't want this to be a big deal, so now that you know, let's just move on, alright?"

The group was still silent for a moment until Pierce stood up from his seat and walked over to Jeff, embracing him in an awkward hug. "Good work, Jeffery. I'm happy for you and Nathaniel, and I'm also happy you've embraced your gay roots." Jeff pushed him away, looking clearly irritated. "It's Natalie, Pierce, and I can assure you she's female. You will see for yourself at some point in the future." And with that, he gathered his books and left the room, making sure not to give the rest of the group anymore time to scrutinize him. He happened to chance a glance at Annie on his way out, who was looking down at the table and avoiding his gaze. He didn't get a chance to read her expression.

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><p>A week or so passed, and Jeff hadn't encountered anything too out of the ordinary from his study group. There were tiny signs that things were off however. Britta for example, spent the first day after he told everyone mocking Jeff, but stopped abruptly when he brought up Troy. This led to a very private discussion between the two of them, in which Britta neither admitted nor denied her feelings for Troy. The two of them did reach a consensus though about not bothering each other with relationship stuff for the time being, and Jeff was grateful.<p>

The thing that really bugged Jeff however was that Annie hadn't really spoken to him since he revealed the news. She had completely engrossed herself in her schoolwork, and according to Abed, she had been spending more and more time in her room. Jeff felt like shit. He really wished Shirley hadn't caught him and Abed a week earlier. Things were weird now, and Annie was obviously upset. But as much as Jeff wanted to, he couldn't bring himself to talk to her about it. How could he? Even though Jeff Winger always knew what to say, that rule didn't apply to his conversations with Annie. He almost always said the wrong thing, and with a subject as fragile as this, he didn't want to take any chances. He had explained this to Abed, who had agreed with him. Jeff was lucky to have Abed; he seemed to be the only one who understood how awkward this situation was for him. Abed had encouraged Jeff to not bring up his girlfriend as much as possible so to spare Annie's feelings somewhat, which he was more than happy to do. He was grateful that the group at least understood this, as they hadn't brought it up either.

Slowly, things were getting slightly back to normal. The group had gone back to their normal dynamic of making fun of Pierce, and Abed had gone back to making constant movie references. Shirley had gone back to wedging her religious views into irrelevant conversation topics and guilt tripping everyone. Troy, who hadn't really changed at all during the whole thing, just continued being his dim-witted but lovable self. Britta had gone back to being annoying to the entire group – not just Jeff. Only Annie had continued to be rather despondent, but she was doing a good job of hiding it. Jeff knew better though, and noticed that whenever the group was having a conversation together she wouldn't chime in like usual. Jeff had tried nonchalantly approaching her in group conversation a couple times, but each time she abruptly shut him down and went back to her biology notebook. A week later, the group's dynamic had completely returned except for Annie's demeanor, so Britta approached Jeff one day when he was by himself.

The blonde was actually looking genuinely concerned for once since this whole thing had started. "Jeff, Annie's acting strange and it's obviously because of your new girlfriend. You know you need to at least talk to her about the whole thing," said Britta. Jeff sighed in frustration, "You think I haven't noticed how she's been acting? I won't lie, it sucks, but I'm trying to spare her feelings, Britta. She's still my friend, and I don't want her to hate me even more. I still care about her feelings." Britta actually smiled at him, taking Jeff by surprise. "You know, you've grown up a lot in three years, Jeff. The old Jeff would never have been so considerate of his friend's feelings. But Annie's my best friend, and also yours. Sometimes you just gotta go through with shit like this to make things better in the long run. And I'm sure it'll help her get over it in time." Jeff sighed, but nodded at his friend. "You know, Natalie's not even bad at all. She's actually the nicest person ever. I know you guys would love her." Britta looked as if she was contemplating something for a moment before replying to Jeff.

"Jeff, I think it's time we met her."


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** I am going to apologize in advance to some readers out there. I feel I need to tell you that Annie is my favourite character in the show, but I think some of you Annie lovers will be disappointed and possibly upset with how she acts in this chapter. To be honest, I took a risk, and hopefully you guys like it. Reviews are welcome as always!

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><p>He's a jerk. He's a big mean jerk.<p>

Annie kept telling herself this so that she wouldn't be swayed by his natural charm when he talked to her. She sat awkwardly in the library waiting for Jeff. She knew what this was about, and she didn't really want to discuss it. She knew however that she owed this much to Jeff for giving him the cold shoulder for 3 weeks now. So she just sat there waiting for him, hoping that this would be over with as soon as possible so she could return to the solitude of her room.

Jeff walked in awkwardly, and sat on the couch next to her. "Hey..." he said hesitantly. Annie looked down at her lap, refusing to look into those stupid Winger eyes and said "Hi." Jeff then sat up abruptly and got right to it. "Annie, look. You've been acting a little distant from me since I told the group about Nat and that really sucks. I get it though, I do. I know it must suck given our past feelings for each other but-"Annie interrupted him. "You know something, Jeff? I think that might be the first time you directly stated you have feelings for me, and it only took you a new girlfriend to admit it. Can you even possibly imagine how that makes me feel? When you're on the market you can't say anything but as soon as you're taken you're as open as Pierce's last seven marriages." She huffed and got up, ready to just leave him there and go cry in her room when he grabbed her arm. "Let go of me, Jeff. Don't worry, I could care less about you and _Nat._" Jeff eased his grip on her arm but didn't let go just yet. "Annie, please give me a chance to explain." Annie pulled her arm away and began walking out the door, leaving Jeff by the couch. But suddenly, she heard him call out to her.

"I haven't stopped caring about you!"

As much as her brain wanted to keep walking, Annie's feet betrayed her as she turned around. She made sure to keep her angry face on though. When it became clear she was waiting for him to go on, Jeff walked up to her again. "Annie, I don't blame you at all for being upset. I just want to explain to you why I did this the way I did." He took a deep breath before continuing, " When I met Natalie I liked her a lot, but I was afraid of what you would think if you found out. But then I knew Abed would figure it out somehow, so I opted to tell him in private at Shirley's dinner a couple weeks ago. But then Shirley caught me and Abed talking, and I was forced to tell her about Natalie as well." Jeff's reasoning did little to change the expression on her face. "So that's it? You were afraid to tell me because you knew it'd upset me, but then just decided to do it anyway because of Shirley's big mouth? And now you think everything will be all fine and dandy between us since it's out in the open?" Jeff sighed, as he was beginning to get frustrated with her. "No, I know everything isn't fine and dandy. But would it really have been any better if you found out by accident? Annie, we both know that would have been worse. I knew either way you'd be upset so I went with the lesser of two evils and told you guys up front. And now I still feel terrible because you're mad at me. Just because I'm seeing someone doesn't mean I haven't stopped caring about your feelings. Lately, it's felt like I've been losing you as a friend and that really sucks."

Annie didn't say anything at this, but her expression softened somewhat and she looked down at the floor. Jeff then lightly grasped her shoulders, bringing Annie's attention back to his eyes. "Look, I know this doesn't change things between us, and I'm really sorry. I'm not gonna act like this doesn't suck for you because I know it does. I just want things to go back to normal. I would love that." Annie studied his face and knew Jeff was being sincere. She also knew that this was probably very hard for him to do, and admired that he wasn't just avoiding her like she thought he would. She let out an exasperated sigh and let her arms fall to her sides. "Jeff, you have really stupid eyes." Jeff laughed and smiled, happy that the tenseness of the conversation was beginning to frizzle out a bit. "Look who's talking, Disney princess." Annie couldn't help but giggle the slightest bit at his comment, before she went in to hug him. "I'm sorry too, Jeff. I know it couldn't have been hard for you to do this, and I guess I was being a little immature." Jeff shook his head as he pulled away from her. "No, you had every right to be upset. I don't even expect you to be cool with all of this just yet. But I'm just happy things will hopefully start getting back to normal. I'll try if you do." Annie smiled at him, "Of course." Jeff now looked much more relaxed and his cool demeanor had returned. "So, I guess I'm gonna go now. I'll see you tomorrow Annie. And thanks for listening to me and accepting my apology. It really means a lot."

"Jeff, wait!"

He turned around and noticed Annie was now the nervous looking one. "Um, are you gonna let us meet her at some point?" Jeff looked stunned, but regained his composure rather quickly. "Are you sure you want to? I know it's still a little too soon. Maybe we should let things simmer down a bit first." Annie shook her head and fixed her gaze upon him once more. "No, I'll be cool. I mean, if you actually found a girl who you don't just want to be a one night stand then I definitely want to see what she's like. And if we like each other, maybe I can still make a new friend out of all this." Jeff looked unsure about this, but nodded his head. "I was actually thinking of having a little get-together with all of us at my apartment this weekend so you can all meet her. You are of course welcome to come, but only if you feel comfortable. And by the way, I would love it if you two got along. She's great too, so I'm hoping it works out that way." Annie smiled at him before walking out the door. "I'm sure it will, Jeff. Oh, and I'll be there."

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><p>Annie walked up with Troy and Abed to Jeff's apartment where the rest of the group had already gathered. The boys had told her that she could stay home if she wanted, but she still wanted to go with them. Above all, she wanted to be happy for Jeff, and if she was able to connect with Natalie then she was convinced that she'd be able to at least enjoy tonight.<p>

The truth was, even though there were mixed signals being sent by Jeff in the past, Annie didn't want things to get weird between them. They were still best friends, and she felt bad for not really talking to Jeff over the course of these past few weeks. She knew that he thought she'd react like this, so she wanted to prove to him that she could be fine around him now. She'd gotten through worse things in the past anyway; things that unresolved feelings couldn't hold a finger to. She could get through this easily. And realistically, she should be able to. It's not like anything had really developed between them in almost two years now anyway. And she still thought Jeff was surprisingly considerate for thinking about her feelings regarding Natalie despite this.

_**He was not being a huge jerk. He was NOT being a huge jerk. **_

When they knocked on the door, a woman opened it and smiled at them brightly. She had wavy red hair and a pretty decent figure. Annie noticed she wasn't wearing anything revealing though, and she actually looked rather modest. Annie respected that, and smiled back at her. "You guys must be the remainder of Jeff's friends! I'm Natalie." She stuck out her hand, and each of them took it as she led them inside. Troy and Abed introduced themselves, but got distracted quickly when they noticed Jeff's large television and ran over to the living room. As Annie removed her coat she introduced herself. "I'm Annie. You're very pretty by the way!" Natalie beamed at the compliment. "Thank you! So are you! Jeff has told me a lot about you. You sound like a wonderful person, Annie. I'm very much looking forward to hanging out more!" Annie couldn't help but smile as the thought of Jeff talking about her in a good way to his girlfriend registered in her mind. Jeff sauntered over to her and hugged her quickly as she finished taking off her shoes. "You made it! I trust you two have introduced each other already?" Annie shook her head at him. "No Jeff, we were just awkwardly standing around here waiting for you to do it for us." Natalie laughed and Jeff looked a little embarrassed as they made their way into the living room with the others.

Annie took a moment to look around Jeff's apartment. It was a spacious area that looked very classy. She always imagined it would look something like this. He had leather couches and a big TV in his living room, and his kitchen had rather expensive looking cabinets and appliances. She was especially surprised at how clean it was, but she suspected Natalie probably made Jeff clean up for tonight. She giggled to herself a little.

Annie then looked for the rest of her friends. Abed was perusing Jeff's movie collection, while Troy was talking to Britta by the stereo. Annie quirked an eyebrow. Something was up with them lately. They had been talking a lot more recently than they usually did, and although it looked casual it was weird not seeing Troy with Abed as much as he usually was. Shirley was of course in the kitchen, checking on the dinner that Natalie and Jeff had been preparing. Jeff had asked the group not to worry about bringing food, so Shirley looked as though she was going through some serious pie-making withdrawal right now. Pierce meanwhile was sitting by Jeff's mini bar making himself a drink, occasionally glaring in Jeff and Natalie's direction. Annie assumed that this was because Jeff had proved him wrong about his belief that his girlfriend was in fact a man.

Annie decided to go and join Abed on the couch, as he was now perusing through the different channels on the TV. Annie also secretly wanted to be around Abed so that he could distract her from Jeff and his girlfriend with his pop-culture references and interesting conversation. She wanted to be happy for them and get to know Natalie, but she still didn't want to engage with them that much tonight. She already knew it'd be uncomfortable for her after a while. She was only human after all. Natalie walked up to them shortly after Annie had plopped down on the couch, and Annie did her best to plaster a polite smile on her face. "Can I offer you two something to drink?" she asked. "I'll have a beer if you have it, thanks" said Abed. Natalie nodded and smiled at him before turning to Annie. The younger brunette contemplated this for a moment. She came here with the intention of not drinking, as she knew that it probably wouldn't lead to good things if she did. She wanted to try and be happy for Jeff tonight, and she was afraid that alcohol might ruin her chances. As she sat there though, looking at Natalie's gorgeous features, she could feel the jealousy rising up in her again. She knew it was unfair, and she really did want to just relax and enjoy the night.

_Well, one couldn't hurt. _

"If it's available, I'll have a screwdriver," said Annie after a moment. Natalie grinned at her and said "Coming right up" before walking to get their drinks.

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><p>It had been two hours. Jeff's stereo had been turned on, and Annie was dancing ridiculously with Britta and Troy. The three of them were clearly intoxicated, but just how much Jeff didn't know. Abed was sitting with Pierce at the mini bar, and Natalie was letting Shirley help clean the dishes from their dinner. Jeff was with them as well, but wasn't helping so much as just standing next to them. Natalie of course didn't mind, and Shirley was too busy trying to be a better helper than his girlfriend to notice. Shirley was going on about Ben and being a Christian and Natalie was remarkably able to listen intently and converse with her. She amazed Jeff sometimes, and this was one of those times. Anyone else would have wanted to kill themselves by this point. Jeff left them to go sit in the living room with Annie, who looked pretty tired from dancing.<p>

"So I can see now why we don't see your dance moves very often," he joked as he sat down. Annie looked up at him, and he noticed that her face was a lot redder that he last remembered it being earlier in the night. "Shut up Jeeeeffff," Annie slurred. She moved a little closer to him and Jeff began to get slightly uncomfortable, so he moved further down the couch. "How much have you had to drink, Annie?" She sat up and looked at him with unfocused eyes. "Jeff, you don't have to worry. I've only had like 3 screwdrivers." Jeff looked concerned. "It doesn't look like that. It looks like you've had a bit more than that." She glared at him, clearly offended. "I didn't! Just ask Pierce! He made 2 of them for me, and they were _sooooo_ much better than my first one." Jeff facepalmed at this new information. _Well that explains it, _he thought. "He probably made them way too strong Annie." Annie turned away from him now, and looked over towards the kitchen. "Jeff, I'm totally fine. Actually, I'm better than fine. I'm like, fantastic. Almost as fantastic as you and the gorgeous redhead over there." Jeff suddenly became uncomfortable as he glanced at Natalie, who was now done dishes but still conversing with Shirley in the kitchen. He turned his attention back to Annie, who was looking back at him with those big, blue, but glossed over eyes. "Well that's great, Annie. I'm glad you're having a good time. Just don't drink anymore, alright? If you excuse me, I'm gonna go speak with Pierce for a second." But suddenly Annie grabbed Jeff's arm, their roles now reversed. "Can I tell you a secret, Jeff?" Jeff hesitantly nodded, wanting more than anything to just get off the couch before his girlfriend came to join them. Annie pulled him back onto the couch before leaning in to whisper to him. "I've been looking for like any reason to hate your girlfriend tonight, but she's like, soooooo nice and perfect in every way and it's kinda ticking me off a little bit, y'know?" Jeff's expression went more serious, as he removed his arm from Annie's grip. "I thought you said you were gonna try and be friends with her?" Annie shook her head, and Jeff frowned. "I did try, Jeff! But she's just like, so likable! There's nothing wrong with her! And there just has to be, because remember what you said to us about Rich? Nobody is that good a person!"

Annie's voice had risen to a new volume, causing everyone else to look at her, including Natalie. Jeff felt extremely uncomfortable, and tried desperately to change the subject. "Look, that's all in the past Annie. Why don't I just get you a glass of water and we can all sit down and watch a movie or something?" Abed suddenly chimed in with a simple "Cool" before moving to once again look through his movies for something suitable to watch. The rest of the group soon followed to the living room, finding places to sit and get comfortable. Annie instinctively moved closer to Jeff on the couch again, and Jeff tried to push her away slightly so that Natalie could sit next to him. But when she had clung to his arm, everyone had noticed and was simply staring at them. When Annie started snuggling even closer, something inside Jeff snapped.

He fiercely tugged away his arm from her and stood up, causing everyone to gasp. "Annie! You need to stop this, alright? Look, I tried to make things as comfortable here for you as possible, and I was really hoping you could have at least tried to do the same for me! I told Natalie wonderful things about you that are all completely true, but right now you're being childish. Listen, there is nothing going on between us anymore alright? I'm actually happy and committed to someone for the first time in my life, so you need to get over the fact that it's not with you!"

The seconds that followed were the longest Jeff had ever experienced in his entire life, but he didn't care. He had warned Annie that tonight might have been uncomfortable and was actually trying to spare her feelings, but she had taken that gift and thrown in right back in his face. He knew alcohol was to blame, but that never fully excused someone from acting completely stupid. He knew that on some level Annie had wanted to make things uncomfortable for Jeff and Natalie, and it was pissing him off. His girlfriend didn't deserve this.

Literally nobody was speaking, and after a moment, Natalie had surprisingly stepped forward to try and diffuse the situation. "Okay, you know what? Maybe we should just call it a night. I'm sure this is getting uncomfortable for all of us." Annie turned around and glared at her. "Oh will you just save it, Miss Perfect? You have no idea how this group works. We fight all the time! I'm sure you and Jeff will have plenty of time to get comfortable later anyway." Jeff glared at her, standing in front of his girlfriend. "Annie! You can't just talk to my girlfriend like that! She's literally done nothing to you, and you're being extremely disrespectful!" Annie didn't say anything, but turned around and stormed out of his apartment, completely forgetting her jacket.

A long awkward silence followed, before Jeff simply said "Party's over guys" while walking into his room and closing the door quietly. The group hastily collected their things and apologized to Natalie, before leaving. Troy made sure to leave extra quickly so he could catch up with Annie to drive her home. Jeff collapsed onto his bed and buried his face in his hands.

Tonight was going to be a long night.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** Alright you guys. First off, thanks for the reviews! I appreciate the feedback, and it helped me write this chapter. I tried my best to fix what you guys felt was out of character for both Jeff and Annie. Hopefully the explanations will suffice. Enjoy and Review!

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><p>Mondays sucked.<p>

Of course, this particular Monday sucked even more than the others. Jeff walked down the hall towards the cafeteria. He had spent the first half of the day by himself, making sure to avoid everyone. He didn't really want to see his friends right now, particularly one friend who was probably trying to scope him out from afar to apologize. Oddly however, he hadn't seen Annie all day. Whatever; he wasn't necessarily complaining. He'd speak to her when she was ready. As much as he was annoyed with her, he knew she must be embarrassed about the whole thing. So he resolved to let her come to him. Of course, if she acted like everything was fine, he'd call her out on the situation that played out last night. His sympathy only went so far, after all. For now though, all he wanted to do was eat, skip biology and leave before study group. Then when he got home, he would have the greatest nap of life to make up for the lack of sleep he got last night. And not the good lack of sleep that involves a lot of noise and sweat, the bad lack of sleep that involves your wonderful girlfriend lecturing you on things that you have to improve on as a person so that a love struck 20 year old girl doesn't try and sabotage your relationship after a few too many drinks.

That was the longest 6 hours of life. Period.

Jeff Winger never used to be one for relationships for this very reason. For someone who spent the majority of his life talking bullshit, he never thought he'd grow to dislike doing it again. But this stupid school had changed him. Now he was all sappy and weird. Now, he cared more about making other people happy than making himself happy. This past month had tested him though; everyday he was finding it harder and harder to keep this up. It felt like an act now. When compassion and caring for others had finally started coming naturally to him, this whole debacle had once again caused him to start regressing back into his old ways of caring only about himself. Ironically, by trying to be understanding, he was turning selfish again. He was honestly beginning to stop caring about it too. At least not caring made life easier for him. As he kept walking, Jeff decided this would be what he'd start doing again from now on. The old Jeff was back, and sleepless nights were out the window.

Now all he had to do would break the news to Natalie.

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><p>Annie woke up with the worst headache she had ever experienced in her entire life. As someone who was relatively new to drinking, she wasn't very experienced with hangovers. She couldn't remember exactly what happened last night either, which freaked her out. She knew she was a lightweight, but she had a good idea of how much she could drink before calling it quits. And she recalled only having 3 screwdrivers, although the headache she had was begging to differ.<p>

She dragged herself out of her bed, deciding not to even question how she made it there. As she walked slowly to the kitchen, Abed was already up and dressed. "Hey, Annie. I made you a cup of coffee; you should probably have it," he said matter-of-factly. Annie nodded as she took the mug from Abed, smiling at him. She then turned towards the stove to look at the time and almost spit out her coffee. "Abed! It's 12:00! I've missed like 3 classes already! And we're going to miss biology! Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god-"Abed simply grabbed her shoulder lightly, causing her to snap out of her paranoia. "Annie, it's alright. I've got Troy getting notes for both of us for biology. I figured you needed to rest today after last night, and missing one day of school isn't that bad. Especially not at Greendale." Annie relaxed a little bit, but was still pretty paranoid on the inside. "Thanks for staying Abed, I guess I should just try and rest up, huh?" Abed walked over to the table, and she followed sitting next to him. "I guess you don't really remember what happened last night do you?" Annie shook her head. "I remember some parts. I remember dancing with Britta and Troy for a bit, and I remember talking to Pierce at the bar about...something. I also remember meeting Natalie when we arrived at Jeff's, and trying to get Shirley out of the kitchen. But I have no recollection of anything after those events. It's really weird, Abed. I mean, it was a Sunday. I highly doubt I would have had enough to get me that drunk." Abed listened intently to her ramble on before replying. "Annie, you don't remember anything because the 2 screwdrivers you had were a lot stronger than you probably intended. I saw Pierce make them, because I was at the bar with him for a while." Annie sat back in her seat, looking slightly offended. "And you were just okay with letting me drink those? Abed! You could have clearly stopped that!" Abed simply cocked his head a bit before replying. "I'm strictly an observer, Annie. Always have been. Thought you might have known by now. Also, you would have noticed they were too strong by tasting them, but you decided to drink them anyway. I think on some level, you wanted to drink them and let the events of last night play out." Annie looked downcast at the table as she took another sip of her coffee. "Abed, what events are you referring to exactly?" Abed looked into her eyes with a weird expression that she couldn't quite describe. It looked like sincerity mixed with disappointment with a bit of intrigue tossed in there too. "Annie, I won't lie to you. You made some bad decisions, some of which seemed way of character for you."

Annie sat back in shock when she heard what Abed was telling her. She wanted lock herself in her room and never come out. She couldn't believe what she had done to Jeff. Sure, she was jealous of Natalie; she had admitted to him that she was. But they talked about that, and their fragile friendship had begun to rebuild itself a bit earlier that day. But now...now they were back where they were a couple weeks ago. No, they weren't even there anymore. Jeff was probably pissed at her. Actually, she knew he was. He had to be; she apparently called out him and his girlfriend and insulted them both. Jeff was trying to spare her feelings, and this is how she had repaid him. The worst part was, he had warned her not to come and she went anyway. She brought this on herself.

She wanted to cry.

Abed handed her a tissue. _Never mind, looks like I am already. _She took the tissue and wiped her eyes, before getting up to put her coffee cup in the dishwasher. She then walked over to Abed's recliner and collapsed into it, looking utterly defeated. "Abed...what do I possibly do in this situation? How can I possibly make this better?" Abed sat next to her in Troy's recliner, and turned to face her. "Annie, remember when you were interested in Rich and he was about to be a part of the group, but Jeff made it so that he was outvoted?" Annie nodded. "And remember how mad you were at Jeff about that? Well, Jeff is probably feeling similar to that. Granted, he's actually dating the other person this time, but if he's not really interested in her, the same rules apply." Annie furrowed her brow at Abed. "Are you implying that I wasn't really interested in Rich, Abed?" Abed simply nodded, causing Annie to sink lower into the recliner and stare at the wall in front of her. "I don't understand why this surprises you, Annie. It was obvious from my standpoint. Throughout our second year, Jeff had been ignoring you because of when you two kissed at the Tranny Dance, and when you got closer to Rich over the break, you jumped at a chance to get another man's attention so that you could be distracted from your real feelings for Jeff." Annie once again looked offended, but she soon realized that she couldn't fight Abed's logic. She once again looked defeated and grabbed another tissue. "Abed, you're a great friend, but you aren't making me feel too hot right now." She expected him to get up and leave her alone at this, but instead he continued. "I'm not finished yet, and hopefully the next thing I tell you will make you feel at least a little better." Annie looked up at him expectantly. "What I just told you about you and Rich; I am almost convinced that it is the exact same situation for Jeff and Natalie. The only difference I can see is that they are actually dating, but I can tell Jeff doesn't have real feelings for her." Annie looked at him, intrigued. "How do you know that, Abed?"

Abed went on, noticing how eager Annie was to get a straight answer out of him. "Annie, Jeff seemed incredibly different after we got home from the break. He seems more compassionate and caring about others' feelings, but I've noticed that he's only really directed this kind of sympathy towards you. That was the first thing that tipped me off. Think about it; at Shirley's dinner party, he and I were the only ones to recognize how uncomfortable you were when the subject of a possible relationship for him came up in conversation. And then because of that, he jumped at the chance to change the subject. And when we all found out about Natalie during study group that one day, he didn't care that Britta or Pierce made fun of him, but he cared immensely that you weren't speaking to him. Even at the party last night, he tried to reason with you _after _you embarrassed him. He cares about you, Annie. More importantly, you're the _only _one he cares about. Of course, Jeff isn't perfect and is still refusing to accept all this, which is why I think Natalie is in the picture right now. To put it simply, his feelings for you haven't subsided, and he's using Natalie and this whole compassionate act as a way to try and get rid of them. I'm guessing this is because he's still afraid of what giving into his feelings for you would mean for him."

Annie sat in her chair, trying to contemplate all this. Basically what Abed was saying was that Jeff still harbored feelings for her, and was using Natalie to try and get rid of them. Of course, this made her upset, but it also oddly gave her hope. It also made Jeff feel more approachable now. And the fact that his feelings were still there after he started dating someone else, proved how strong his feelings actually were. It both a good and bad feeling, kind of bittersweet in a way. She decided that the one thing that would be easier now, would be talking to Jeff. Abed had at least provided her with a basis to talk in a conventional and mature manner with Jeff tomorrow, and she was feeling better about it because of that. She got up and hugged Abed, who surprisingly reciprocated. "Thank you, Abed. I guess you really do know how to make people feel better. I'm really glad to have a friend like you." Abed didn't say anything, and as he pulled away from her his face had a look of concern on it. "I'm glad you feel better emotionally Annie, but you should go back to bed for a bit. Your physical self probably needs some recuperation still." As if on cue, Annie's headache had decided to return and she groaned. "Ugh...you're right, Abed. I'm going to go take some Tylenol and try and sleep this off." He nodded, before heading to the kitchen to get her the Tylenol and a glass of water. After taking them, she started heading towards her room and he went to return to the blanket fort. Before going inside however, another question popped up in her head. "Abed?" she asked. He turned around, expectantly. "How come you're willing to help me now? I thought you were just an observer?" Abed looked to be thinking for a moment before he responded to her.

"Chandler and Phoebe were still best friends, Annie."


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N:** Remember to review you guys!

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><p>Jeff had made it through all of his classes without having to see his study group. He didn't even know how he pulled it off; they were usually stalking him from afar. Regardless, he had to see them now anyway. It was study group, and as much as he would have liked to skip again, he knew he couldn't keep avoiding his friends. He wasn't too worried though; he had been trying to change himself back to how he used to be: selfish, narcissistic and lazy. Also rakishly good looking, but that trait never left in the first place. They only real obstacles he had to get over today were talking to both Annie about the weekend and his soon to be ex-girlfriend when he got home. He really didn't want to upset Natalie, but she was a mature woman and would get over it. As cliché as it sounded, it wasn't her, it was him. He was going back to his old way of life, and that meant if they stayed together Jeff would most definitely hurt her. A little part of him also wondered how Annie would take his personality change. Well, if she was mad about it, he didn't care anymore. Old Jeff didn't care for anyone except himself. The only way he'd care for other people is if there was something in it for him. And since in this case there wasn't, he could be a selfish prick and the most his friends would be is disappointed. And he could live with that.<p>

He really wanted to be a lawyer again.

As Jeff sauntered into Study Room F, he grinned when all his friends looked up at him eagerly, even Annie. There wasn't any doubt in his mind that they wanted to know how everything was now between him and his girlfriend. "You guys, everything's fine with me and Natalie. We're fine." He took a moment to gauge the reactions that followed. Abed of course looked neutral about the whole thing, and Troy looked slightly upset. Jeff guessed that this was because he had spent the majority of his time in the last 2 days trying to make Annie feel better. Britta looked oddly happy for Jeff, which made him cringe a little bit. Shirley also looked happy, probably because Natalie gave her some more competition in the kitchen. Friendly competition, of course. Pierce looked rather put out, probably because he was still waiting for Jeff to bomb with Natalie. _He gets to make fun of me soon enough, _thought Jeff as he sat down. Only when he was taking out his books did he look at Annie. She was actually looking at him too, and had a smile on her face. He didn't know if it was fake or real, but it was one that he hadn't seen before on her face. He didn't really know how to describe it, but he opted not to smile back at her. Regardless of his decision to move back into his old ways, Jeff was still mad at her for embarrassing him on Sunday. She frowned when he didn't return her smile and opened up her binder to hand him biology notes she photocopied as usual.

"Jeff, here are your biology notes for this week – "Jeff slid them back across the table towards her. "I actually took notes already yesterday, thanks though," he lied. The group gasped at this information, and Britta smirked at him. "Really, Jeff? You took notes already? How could you possibly care enough to actually pay attention in a class?" Jeff turned around to glare at her. "Well Britta, when you've already been kicked out once and your prof used to be a prison inmate, you tend to take things a bit more seriously, okay?" Annie only said "Oh" as she silently went back to her text book highlighting.

Studying resumed after this as usual, and Annie actually seemed more engaging than she had been in a while. Jeff could tell she wasn't all there though. She took a while to answer the group's questions and was spacing out more than usual. She didn't look upset though; she just looked like something was on her mind. Jeff's actual studying had declined though. He was sticking to his new/old plan of not caring anymore. It was actually a good feeling that he was surprised he missed. The group noticed his lack of motivation, and remarkably, no one said anything. Jeff assumed this was probably just because they thought he was still upset about Sunday. He supposed they weren't completely wrong either. When everyone was getting ready to leave, Annie took a long time to put her books away and Jeff got the message, doing the same. After about a minute, it was just the two of them in the study room.

Annie looked like she was actually prepared for this conversation, which didn't necessarily surprise Jeff. It was Annie after all. She cleared her throat a bit before starting out. "Jeff. Thanks for not walking out right away." He didn't say anything to this, and she understood this as her signal to keep going. She stood up slowly before looking down at him. "Jeff, I am so sorry. I...I don't know what got into me on Sunday."

"Alcohol", murmured Jeff.

Annie sighed and resumed her apology. "Yeah...I've never been that drunk, and according to Abed I was being pretty stupid. I already talked to Pierce about it though. He agreed not to mess with my drinks anymore if I agreed to still be his favourite in the group." Jeff just shook his head before getting up himself and grabbing his books. "Yeah well Natalie and I are good now, so apology accepted. I'll see you tomorrow." Annie stood there, dumbfounded as he headed towards the door. "That's it? You don't even wanna talk about us or anything?" Jeff just sighed and turned around. "Annie, we talked about us on Sunday before my party. Look how well that turned out. No, I don't really wanna talk about us. Look, its fine alright? I'm totally cool with us going back to being friends. We all make stupid decisions and I guess I'm in no position to say I didn't deserve you being the one who's jealous for once. Resolved?" Annie studied his face for a moment before replying. He looked sincere, but also a little irritated and eager to leave. She sighed and said "Resolved." Jeff smiled at her, but she could tell that it was fake. "Well then, I guess I'll be going. Later, Annie." She just waved at him as he walked out of the study room. She slumped back into her chair, staring at nothing.

She was at least hoping for a hug or something.

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><p>Jeff didn't necessarily feel good about how he basically shut out Annie during her apology, but he needed to do that if he was going to start not caring again. As he walked up to his door, he grinned to himself. The first difficult part of today was now over. Now he just had to take care of his girlfriend. The plan now was to get some take out, secretly watch The Real Housewives of New Jersey, shower, work out for a bit, mentally prepare himself for maybe an hour or so, and then go to Natalie's and break the news to her. Of course, all of that went down the toilet when he walked into his apartment and found his girlfriend in his kitchen cooking dinner. "Surprise, babe!" The redhead ran up to him and planted a sweet kiss on his lips. Jeff smiled awkwardly. "Uh, hey. What's all this? And how did you get in?" Natalie beamed at him before returning to the kitchen. "Well I wanted to make you dinner tonight to make up for last night. I know that couldn't have been fun for you, and I felt bad. Also, you gave me a spare key! You're so forgetful!" She laughed and he hung up his coat, sighing to himself. <em>Of course I did. New Jeff made some bad decisions. This is going to be harder than I thought."<em> He sat on the couch and she joined him shortly after, snuggling up to him and taking the television remote off the coffee table. "So how was your day today? Did you talk to your friends about us? They know we're all good now right?" Jeff just shifted awkwardly beside her before answering. "Yeah, they were fine." Natalie stopped flipping through channels and looked up at him, worried. "Is something wrong, Jeff? You don't sound too happy." Jeff took a deep breath.

_This is the best opening I'm going to get._

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><p>The following hour or so filled Jeff's apartment with one sided yelling, various loud noises and the smell of food that had been clearly burnt from lack of attention. Natalie was crying, and Jeff felt genuinely terrible. This was so difficult. He'd dropped girls in the past, but this was his first committed relationship since Slater. And in that relationship he was the dumpee. But he just spent most of the hour listening to her yell while he was trying to explain things in a civil tone. She was having none of that though. She had reached octaves that he hadn't even heard in the bedroom on good nights, and to be honest that insulted him just a little bit. Jeff was more surprised that she was this upset in the first place though. He didn't think Natalie would care this much. She seemed so independent and put together, and even though he knew she'd be upset, he didn't think she'd turn on the rage so easily. Finally, the part of the break-up he'd been dreading had decided to poke its ugly head.<p>

"This is about Annie, isn't it? You still have feelings for her, don't you?"

Jeff groaned. "No, Natalie. It has nothing to do with Annie. I can't be in a committed relationship with anyone right now. Like I told you before, it took me a long time to get to this point, and this whole thing is starting to make me feel pretty claustrophobic again-"

"Oh my god, Jeff! Shut up! I'm so tired of you blaming this whole thing on your inability act like an adult! For goodness sakes, you're going on 35 years old! Just because you're ashamed of having the hots for some form fitting brunette who's like 15 years younger than you doesn't mean you have to cut out women who are actually mature enough to deal with your shit!" Jeff was offended now. "Deal with my shit? Natalie, there's nothing to deal with. I just admitted that there were some problems I have because of how I used to act before I met you, but since you're refusing to accept that as a valid excuse at the moment, I'm pretty sure I was otherwise the perfect boyfriend." Natalie scoffed at him. "You are so egotistical. For one thing, you weren't the perfect boyfriend, because a perfect boyfriend wouldn't leave me to go do dirty things with a naive and stupid co-ed girl! I don't even know what you see in her, Jeff. She's insecure, completely immature and clearly doesn't know a thing about alcohol. And even if she was drunk, she probably wasn't so bad that she would clearly try and make things awkward with us without knowing what she was doing on some level. She's a _bitch, _Jeff. She probably doesn't even know how to deal with actual real life problems, and I feel bad for when she's on her own in the world."

Now Jeff was flat out angry. "Spoken just like someone who knows absolutely nothing about her. You're completely wrong about Annie. First of all, she's been on her own for basically her whole life up to about 3 years ago. You have no idea what she's been through, and if you did, you'd take back what you just said in a heartbeat. She is one of the strongest women I've ever met, and yeah, I said 'women' because she's one of the most mature friends I have. She's miles more mature than you're being right now anyway. She's also compassionate, cheerful, caring and she tries extremely hard in everything she does. Her smile never leaves her face, even if she's having a bad day, which is usually enough to brighten the rest of our moods. And that's probably why these past few weeks have sucked so much. Seeing her so depressed killed me inside. Oh and another thing: Annie might have made some bad decisions on Sunday, but that was because she couldn't bear to see me and you together. She isn't a bitch; she's a human being who's capable of having their heart broken. And if Pierce hadn't fucked with her drinks then she wouldn't have even been that bad. And you wanna know something else? The only reason she came on Sunday at all was because she wanted to be happy for us. She cares a lot about me, and despite her feelings, she was willing to put that aside so she could see me happy because I was concerned about what our relationship was doing to her. See, Annie is always putting people before herself. But like you said, she's only twenty and she can only go so far before breaking herself. And I feel so terrible about putting her through all that. She cares about her friends more than anyone else, and that's probably because she's been abandoned by everyone else in her life including her parents. So I'm not gonna stand here and let you squander that like it means nothing. Because the reality of it all is that Annie was forced to grow up faster than everyone else. She was forced to become an independent woman when everyone else her age was still being stupid and making dumb decisions like teenagers are supposed to. So I think she's entitled to one bad night to put up with all the crap life's put her through. She deserves more respect than _you_ could ever hope to give anyone, and to insult her like that is to insult myself, so I would appreciate it if you please left my apartment."

Natalie didn't move but she seemed less tense. Jeff guessed she was beginning to regret what she said. On some level he couldn't blame her for being angry though; after all she was just broken up with. Besides, Jeff knew she was still a good person. She looked rather confused and curious now though. "So if Annie's so important Jeff, then why did you even want to date me?" Jeff thought about this for a few tense moments before turning to glance out of his window overlooking the city. "I...I was running away. Annie means more to me than anyone, but I couldn't bring myself to accept it. She was all I thought about during Christmas break, and even before that during school. But acting on a potential relationship with her was something I kept telling myself I shouldn't do, for reasons I don't even really think are valid anymore. I would have done anything to get away from the feelings I had for her. But they were there, and they grew bigger and bigger, until I was just about ready to burst. Then I met you, and you made me feel like I was moving on with my life. And being with you was great, but eventually I realized that you just...weren't Annie. So now we're here. I guess it seems like I used you, and I really am sorry about that. But I just needed someone to distract me from what I perceived as inappropriate and wrong. The feelings I had for Annie were so strong that I opted to get into another relationship so I would be forced into not thinking about her. What I told you about changing back into my old self wasn't a lie either. I really was planning on doing that. But I think everything that's happened tonight has made me realize that I don't want to change back after all. Because if I go back to the way I used to be, that means I'd eventually lose Annie all together. And that's something I don't even think the old Jeff could bear."

Jeff was talking to himself more than Natalie now. But when he realized it was oddly quiet, he turned around and noticed she wasn't in the room. Her coat was gone, and when he glanced down at the coffee table he saw a tiny piece of scrap paper lying on it that hadn't been there before. On top of the note was his spare key. He opened up the note and read Natalie's handwriting. The four words she had written hit him like a ton of bricks.

_**Go get her, Jeff. **_


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N:** Okay so, I didn't want this story to be very long, so I tied it up with this chapter. Reviews are welcome as always!

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><p>Annie sat up in her bed. She looked over to her alarm clock; it read 1:30am. She had tried 5 times now to try and fall asleep, but every time her head hit the pillow she kept thinking back to her and Jeff's altercation in the study room today. <em>Why did he seem so eager to leave? <em>The question kept eating away at her on the inside, and she couldn't help but feel a bit insulted. She had tried to apologize to Jeff in a mature way and he had almost completely shut her out. It was like he didn't care, like he was going back to the way he was when they first met. She wished this whole thing had never happened, because now she had no idea where she stood with Jeff. She was pretty sure a potential relationship with him was completely out the window now, and was horrified at the idea of him becoming distant again after she had made so much progress with him lately.

She cried then for the third time that night. She was grateful that she was living with her 2 best friends though. Abed studied human character, so he knew when Annie was upset. She assumed that anyone could have probably figured that out today though. When she got home she couldn't keep her tears in any longer, and Abed had wanted to console her again. Annie assured him she was fine though and that she'd get over it soon; she didn't want to bother Abed with what she presumed were things she would have to get used to dealing with herself by now anyway. Troy on the other hand was more oblivious to her feelings, but if he knew she was upset he would also try and console her. She enjoyed having Troy around; although he wasn't as smart as Abed when it came to advice, he was way better at cheering her up. And if he failed at cheering her up, he could usually turn on the tears as easily as her, and the two of them would cry together. It was weird, but somehow, it eventually made them both feel better. The two of them together really brightened her up, even on the worst of days. She was so happy to call them her best friends. Especially when everything in her life seemed to be going wrong...again.

Annie suddenly felt claustrophobic. Her room was a nice comfort zone, but she really felt like having a nice walk or something. Walks were good for clearing her head and helping her see that things will get better. Part of her knew that they would but she needed that reassurance, and somehow, she knew that a nice walk by herself would provide it. Of course, it was almost 2 in the morning, so she went to her sock drawer and pulled out the ivory gripped metallic object that was buried right at the bottom of it. Annie never used her gun, and hated that she owned it. It didn't fit her at all, and yet she couldn't part with it. She had been so accustomed to carrying it around with her when she lived in her old apartment that it seemed normal to own it now. But this was the first time she had taken it out again since she had moved in with Troy and Abed. This was her first ever late night walk, so she made sure the safety was on before tucking it into her purse.

Annie quickly changed into sweats and a sweater and grabbed her key. She was happy the boys were asleep since they probably would never want her to go out this late for a walk, even if it was in a better neighborhood than she was used to. She quietly tip-toed through the living room until she reached the door, looking back to see if there was any signs of movement. When everything seemed normal, Annie slipped out, making sure to close the door as quietly as possible.

* * *

><p>Jeff sat on his couch, perplexed by the note staring him in the face. His now ex-girlfriend, who was smarter than most, had gone from insulting Annie to seemingly accepting that Jeff belonged with her. He realized that he belonged with her too, but he suddenly felt guilty. She had been trying to make things right with him, but his stupid anxiety over being with her had deluded himself once again into thinking that it was best to ignore her. What if this was the last straw? What if she had finally given up on him and he had lost her forever? No...that was unacceptable. Jeff grabbed his phone to text her, but suddenly went against it. He went over to his mini bar and downed a glass of scotch before grabbing his coat and setting off to Casa de Trobed. He was going to need all the courage he could muster to do this right. And he <em>needed<em> to do it right this time. No more denial, no more lies and no more avoidance. He was just going to be straight-up truthful with Annie Edison for once in his life. She deserved that much; she had been going through hell lately, and Jeff had put her there. But that was over now; he was finally going to finally fix things properly with the studious little brunette that had found a way into his heart. And nothing was going to stop him.

After all, he was Jeff goddamn Winger.

* * *

><p>Annie walked casually down the street in no particular direction. Even though it was the middle of the night, she somehow knew exactly where she was going and didn't feel anxious in the slightest. There were no sounds at all; it was strangely calm. She stopped by a nearby light post and took a moment to survey her surroundings. Across the street was the pizza place that her and the boys would frequent when no one felt like cooking. And next to that was the bakery that Shirley despised since she felt it made her brownies look like crap. Right across from the bakery was Troy and Abed's favourite movie store, and further down the street there was an animal shelter that Britta often claimed to frequently volunteer at (although that was debatable). There was even an antique shop that had a little Buddha statue in the display window, which immediately reminded Annie of Pierce and his weird religioncult. This street almost completely symbolized the study group, and Annie had never even noticed that until she had taken this walk. The only things that were missing were buildings that represented her and Jeff. She didn't see any classy looking stores or name brand clothing outlets like the one Jeff went to when he avoided helping her move. She also never saw a stationary store that she could visit whenever she needed more school supplies or any of her favourite cardigan suppliers. Annie frowned at the empty feeling that this left her with. In a way, this street symbolised Annie and Jeff's current relationship; it was slowly disappearing and it had made her begin to feel like she was being disconnected from even her other friends. She wiped away another tear and decided to turn back and head home. This walk was a bad idea.

But then she heard the first car since she had left about a half hour ago. She turned around instinctively and her eyes widened when she noticed it was a black Lexus. _His black Lexus. _Annie just stood there, dumbfounded as the car pulled over to the sidewalk where she was standing and a tall man emerged from the car. He looked completely exhausted, and almost as confused as her.

"Annie? Why are you out here this late?"

Annie took a moment to read Jeff's expression. It was laced with concern, but it also had a hint of something that she wasn't used to seeing when he talked to her. He looked determined. "I felt like going for a walk to kind of clear my head a bit. I'm going home now though. Wait, why are you out here, Jeff?" He looked down at his feet for a moment before looking back up at her. "I broke up with Natalie tonight." After he said this, Annie felt the natural need to console him, but a part of her jumped with glee. She suddenly felt guilty though; did he break up with his girlfriend because of her? "Why did you guys break up?" Jeff stood up straighter and took a deep breath before answering.

"Because she wasn't you."

In that moment, Annie didn't know what she was feeling, but she assumed it was a pretty powerful emotion considering she couldn't find any words to say to Jeff. She suddenly didn't care that she was outside at 2:30 in the morning, or that she was standing in front of Jeff Winger in sweatpants and an old sweater. All that mattered was the four words he had just said. She was afraid he'd get freaked out from her lack of response, but luckily, he continued. "Annie, I'm sorry. I've been a huge jerk to you. And I know that you probably don't want anything to do with me, but I just want to be able to explain some things to you first. After my dad left when I was 14, I decided that I can't be a guy who stays committed to people for very long. The study group is the longest I've ever been connected to anyone who wasn't my mom. But over these last few years, I discovered that I don't want to leave. I found myself feeling things like compassion and sincerity, and even though it scared the crap out of me, I liked it. It was something so foreign to me that made me feel really great. And then when I kissed you at the Tranny Dance, it wasn't like any kiss I'd ever had before. It felt real. And that scared me. It scared me to know that I had started developing feelings for a girl that went deeper than wanting a one night stand. I would tell myself that it was the age difference and that I was gross for wanting you, but I'm done running away from reasons that aren't even true. That reason means nothing, and I know it never did. I just couldn't accept that I had become so attached to you, even though you were willing to let me in. And then after I had started dating someone else, I realized immediately that it was just making things worse. I hate myself for putting you through all that, and I am so sorry. But I think seeing you so upset was the push I needed to come find you tonight. Annie, you are the most amazing and wonderful person I have ever met in my entire life, and I'm sick of trying to look for things about you that make me think otherwise. Because the reality of it all is that there is nothing that could make me think any different about you. And I think...I think I'm finally okay with that. I want you to make me a better person. I want you to accept me as the insecure mess that I am and teach me how to be compassionate and caring like you. I want to kiss you, and I want to go on dates with you because I _love_ you, Annie Edison. I always have."

Jeff let out a long breath and brought his eyes back down to his shoes. Even though he had said everything he wanted to, he still felt extremely uncomfortable. But he had resolved to fight through whatever doubts wanted to form in his mind. He knew what he wanted, and now he just hoped that the woman in front of him felt the same way. When he noticed that she hadn't responded, Jeff looked up at Annie. Even though he couldn't hear sobs he noticed that there were silent tears running down her cheeks. He stood there dumbly trying to figure out if she was crying because she was happy or sad, when suddenly he was jolted from his thoughts when Annie grabbed his shirt and pulled his lips down to hers. His mind flooded with relief as he reciprocated, holding her as if she would disappear if he let go. They kissed passionately; it was a kiss that got rid of whatever doubts Jeff had left in his mind. He didn't even know how he'd gone so long without feeling Annie's lips against his own. It was just like the Tranny Dance, except this time when it was over Jeff wouldn't feel any regret. When Annie finally pulled away, she smiled up at him. Jeff noticed she was still crying, but at least he now knew they were tears of joy.

"It couldn't have been easy for someone to say all that, not even for you."

"It is when you finally accept it."

Annie sank into his chest, closing her eyes and sighing with contentment. Even though they were on a random street in the middle of the night, everything felt so right at the moment. Words couldn't describe how she was feeling right now, so she just opted to say the easiest thing that came to mind.

"I love you too, Jeff. I love you so much."

He kissed the top of her head, and she smiled when she finally realized her place on this street. It was in the arms of an ex-lawyer, underneath a dimly lit lamppost.


End file.
